Hi!

This is a feature request for battery powered cameras to have a continuous recording/always on feature. Understandably this would drain power quickly, but customers can opt for a solar panel, to regularly charge their camera, or to set a continuous recording schedule at their needs.

I would like to share an anecdote in which this feature would have been helpful, but instead, the current camera technology failed me:
I have all of my motion sensors set at the highest sensitivity. Last night, I had police pursue a suspect through my yard, yet my camera recording was not activated until the police had come through, which meant I had no recording (or any trace whatsoever) of any other individual in my yard. I got the cameras for security, and the motion sensors often require a length of time of motion to trigger, or enough light (even if the recording itself is clear during the night), or large enough motion. I really wish I had continuous recording so that I could have been able to look back at the recording to see the individual on my property, and potentially help law enforcement.

This continuous recording/always on feature is something that is repeatedly been requested or demonstrated as necessary by Tapo customers, with individuals understanding the impact on battery life:

• "...there doesn't appear to be an always on option. I can't understand why not. While I'm aware and it doesn't need to be said that it is indeed a battery camera and the battery life on a charge would be significantly shorter if always on. As a user I am fine with that and it would be good to be able to choose...Unless there is a work around for this I'll end up returning the camera soon as it's certainly not worth it's large price tag without basic options in my opinion...."

  • "Extremely disappointed that tplink will not enable such functionality..."

  • "They originally supported RTSP, but they removed it due to "battery life" concerns. Very disappointing. I'm beyond my return window."

  • "100% there needs to be an option to keep the camera on. My camera is not waking up on time and missing events...Please add this feature asap as I too am about to return my C425"

  • "...I can't imagine anyone not wanting the option of this function."

  • "...I would return the product if I could. I bought it and the solar panel for this reason only."

  • "I see there was a firmware update, but there is still no RTSP. Please bring it back this was the main reason I bought this camera."

  • "...I have this camera plugged in 24/7. Don’t tell me how I should use my camera. Enable rtsp and onvif or I’m returning this garbage..."

  • "Its unreal that theres no RTSP or ONVIF. Simply unreal on these beautiful cameras."

  • "RTSP Por favor!!!"

  • "we need rtsp asap"

  • "Continuous recording option should be given. User should decide if they want to charge batteries every month due to that. It's not a hassle, whereas it's a boon as we get amazing clips throughout the day and night. I have 512 gb sd card. What is the use of it unless it's not recording whole day."

• "...I thought [uninterrupted continuous live feed] would be a standard feature, but apparently not...This of course has a big hit on the battery, but I'm fine with that. Doing this with the budget cameras I have means I need to charge them after about three days, though they are easily accessible so this is not a problem at all. Just twice a week I bring them inside overnight to charge, really not a big deal. I really resent all those other brands preventing me from doing this in the name of saving battery. A full battery is useless if the device it's attached to won't do what I need!..."

• "...Unfortunately even with the sensitivity turned all the way up, the camera isn’t catching all movement..."

• "...I would love to have the option to turn on continuouse recording for the battery powered devices like C425, when I have solar panel, or continuouse power source..."

  • "Agree, and also stream connection support for OVINF/RTSP"

  • "put a warning and allow us to use rtsp s...d product managers"

  • "The lack of the ability to do this almost renders my c425's useless, compared to my C210. Not sure why this isn't a default feature, but I'll explain how important the feature is for me, and why I'm considering returing the c425's and buy a couple more c210's instead. Unlike the cameras that are always on, the battery cameras only detect on motion. What I have found though, is that it takes a second or 2 for the camera to identify a subject. That means, all my videos with people didn't capture them the moment they entered the frame. Because the c210's always record, the clip that I see has a second or 2 prior to the subject coming in frame. It's an annoying thing to deal with, especially at after spending so much on these cameras."

  • "Enable continuous recording for battery powered camera with external power source"

  • "Yes if solar is detected..."

  • "I also bought C425 kit and feel like replacing them with C320ws, there are few second/s delay in recording for C425 so most of the time im unable to see the person's face. Having continuous recording in C425 would be good"

  • "Having the option of Continuous 24-hour recording would be a big improvement especially with using a solar panel."

• "My Tapo camera c425 does not recognize anything if the camera stays a few hours in stand by. This happens both day and night but most in night. But if I open the app the camera send notification. This is serious bug because I am losing many events...."

• "Suggestion to have an always on option for Tapo outdoor cameras, especially if they are connected to solar. It is understandable that this is not default or recommended due to the battery drain, but if a customer wants to charge the battery every week or attach to the solar panel (mine is currently always at 100% charged), that should be their perogative."

• "...It will only allow me to put the 'Recording Schedule' as 'Detection recording' and not 'Continuous recording' which is kind of the whole point of why I got this camera...."

• "...The detection feature of this camera is very poor and does not capture all the incidents...I bought the SD Card for live recording. Kindly help me fix this issue and guide how to continuously record..."

• "...Can the live image of the camera be continuously recorded on the sd card in the hub? Because of the replay, it would be important not only to record the events..."

• "...person motion is not good detected so I want to register always..."

And many additional posts across the web and across all battery powered models. This is clearly a commonly requested and needed feature for battery powered cameras and should be an optional feature, with customers understanding that they will be greatly reducing battery usage and will need to frequently charge or hook up to a power source (such as the solar panel). With motion detection features not being up to par and missing notable motion events for many customers, this change is imperative, and customers who have already purchased the camera, expecting motion sensor recording to be adequate, should not simply be advised to purchase alternative cameras when they have already made investments into the battery powered cameras they have already purchased.